FSPH faculty to help lead NIH efforts to diversify biomedical workforce
UCLA faculty will help the NIH develop new ways to engage and recruit biomedical researchers, including those from underrepresented backgrounds.
UCLA will play a leading role for a major five-year, multi-institution initiative to boost the diversity of the nation’s biomedical workforce.
The NIH announced Oct. 22 that it has awarded nearly $31 million in fiscal year 2014 to develop new approaches to engage researchers, including those from backgrounds that are underrepresented in biomedical sciences, and prepare them to thrive in the NIH-funded workforce.
UCLA received $2.1 million of that total, which it will use to launch the NIH Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center. The center will provide operations and data coordination and support, and conduct a longitudinal evaluation, in support of the two programs within the consortium: Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity, or BUILD, and the National Research Mentoring Network.
The center will be led by Dr. Keith Norris, professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Pamela Davidson, adjunct professor of nursing at the UCLA School of Nursing and adjunct associate professor in the department of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
The UCLA center will draw upon the expertise of faculty and staff from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and other units across campus to gather data and enhance existing recruitment and career-development programs.
“Ensuring a diverse faculty in biomedical and other academic fields is an institutional priority for UCLA, and we are proud to receive this grant and take a leading role in partnership with the NIH as we continue our work in this important area,” Chancellor Gene Block said.
The NIH awards are part of a planned five-year effort to support more than 50 awardees and partnering institutions in establishing a national consortium to develop, implement and evaluate approaches to encourage people to start and stay in biomedical research careers. Supported by the NIH Common Fund and all 27 of the NIH’s institutes and centers, the awards are part of three initiatives of the Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce program.
The coordination and evaluation center will oversee efforts among the NIH’s Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity awardees across the nation as well as a national research mentoring network. The consortium will explore novel strategies to optimize successful biomedical careers for women and underrepresented minorities, ranging from undergraduate students to junior faculty, Norris said. The UCLA Higher Education Research Institute and the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute also will play integral parts in the effort.
“We are excited about the innovative work the consortium will be conducting to address the persisting disparities in the biomedical workforce at a national level,” Norris said. “With the renowned UCLA Higher Education Research Institute as a key partner, the consortium is positioned to build upon the greatest base of evidence for a wide range of markers for undergraduate student success in science, technology, engineering and math.”
The coordination and evaluation center and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute will become national resources for workforce development in diverse populations, Davidson said.
“We have recruited an experienced and talented team of senior and junior faculty investigators who are experts in higher education, evaluation, and leadership and career development, and are knowledgeable and committed to building a diverse workforce and the next generation of biomedical researchers," she said.
Other UCLA faculty leaders in the effort are:
David Geffen School of Medicine
- Doug Bell, professor of medicine, division of general internal medicine and health services research; leader, Biomedical Informatics Program, UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Robert Dennis, director, Computing Technologies Research Lab
- Lourdes Guerrero, assistant professor, Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Ron Hays, professor of medicine, division of general internal medicine and health services research; professor, department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
- Heather McCreath, researcher, division of geriatrics; member, Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Teresa Seeman, professor of medicine, division of geriatrics; professor, Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health
Fielding School of Public Health
- Steve Wallace, professor and chair, department of Community Health Sciences
- Abdelmonem Afifi, professor of Biostatistics and Biomathematics; dean emeritus
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
- Christina Christie, professor of education; division head, social research methodology
- Sylvia Hurtado, professor of education; director, Higher Education Research Institute
- Kevin Eagan, assistant professor in residence; interim managing director, Higher Education Research Institute
Anderson School of Management
- Al Osborne, senior associate dean
Research demonstrates that economic, social and cultural factors have a powerful impact on the pursuit of science careers, and has provided small-scale data on interventions that could transform biomedical research training if they were widely implemented. It suggests that a fundamental shift in the way scientists are trained and mentored is required to attract and sustain the interest of people from underrepresented groups in the scientific workforce at all career stages.
“The biomedical research enterprise must engage all sectors of the population in order to solve the most complex biological problems and discover innovative new ways to improve human health,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins said in the NIH announcement.
“While past efforts to diversify our workforce have had significant impact on individuals, we have not made substantial progress in expanding diversity on a larger scale. This program will test new models of training and mentoring so that we can ultimately attract the best minds from all groups to biomedical research.”
The three initiatives that form the Diversity Program Consortium are:
- Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD). A set of experimental training awards designed to learn how to attract students from diverse backgrounds into the biomedical research workforce and encourage them to become future contributors to the NIH-funded research enterprise. The 10 BUILD awardees will work with multiple partnering institutions. Some partnerships will enrich the pool of trainees from less research-intensive institutions; others will provide robust research experiences for students and faculty.
- National Research Mentoring Network. The NRMN will be a nationwide network of mentors and mentees spanning all disciplines relevant to the NIH mission. NRMN will also develop best practices for mentoring, provide training opportunities for mentors, and provide professional opportunities for mentees. Within the NRMN, an extensive network of collaborating institutions and partners across the country will engage a robust network of mentors and mentees and pilot multiple approaches to mentoring.
- Coordination and Evaluation Center. The CEC will coordinate consortium-wide activities and assess efficacy of the training and mentoring approaches developed by the BUILD and NRMN awardees. It will develop short- and long-term measures of efficacy, allowing the consortium to continuously gather data and respond to emerging program needs.
“The Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce program aims to enable transformation across the spectrum of research training and mentoring,” said James M. Anderson, director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which oversees the NIH Common Fund. “We expect that new models for fostering careers will emerge and be widely adopted, having nationwide impact on biomedical research workforce diversity. Scientists from all backgrounds as well as science will ultimately benefit from these activities.”
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
Dr. Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 20 years' experience leading research on HIV/STI services for women and children.
Automated and accessible artificial intelligence methods and software for biomedical data science.
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Dr. Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 20 years' experience leading research on HIV/STI services for women and children.
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
